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A Sign Of Good Friends And Times
Oct. 21st, 2014 10:48 amI'm making a more concerted effort to update LiveJournal at the moment, trying (with difficulty) to ignore the noise of the bus to update regularly. After all, this journal is the only one I have which is archived and Twitter is not much use to discover thoughts, feelings and events that you have experienced in the past. I like having a diary which I can look back on, remembering things which I had long since forgotten such is the seive-like nature of my mind, and the value in that makes this journal worth updating, even if many people abandoned it so long ago for the ease and disposability of twitter (or FA journals which barely ever work anyway).
This weekend saw the birthdays of three close friends, Soma on Friday, Taneli on Saturday and Draken on Sunday. As a consequence, the former organised a meal at Miller & Carter steakhouse on the Headrow for the seven of us - the three aforementioned, their respective partners, Wolfie and me. We had never been to this steakhouse before and we had been meaning to try it - and well it was definitely worth it. Due to vouchers from Soma, we got half price starters, with Wolfie and I both opting for the creamy and rich duck parfait, nestling under a thick layer of yellow fat like it should be. With warm crusty bread and a tangy chutney, this was just divine, with the fat looking like a coagulated MilkyBar. Delving through the fat was much like going through a Creme brûlée, ultimately satisfying to reach the tasty goo underneath.
The steak was also exquisite, done to perfection, blue, just the way I like it. Steak places often struggle with blue, I guess for health and safety reasons and general poisoning fears, but this was remarkably done, with the tomato dipping sauce a nice accompaniment. Draken got the beef dripping and that was even tastier, definitely one to try next time. The fries were crisp and golden, as to was the crispy onion mash, while the lettuce bowl with your choice of sauce (I went with garlic and Parmesan) was a nice addition and something I had never seen before. It certainly made salad far more appealing and I liked the fact it came in a wooden pestle separate from the dish.
Adia was a little ill sadly so she was feeling tired, but this didn't stop the conversation being great and we all had a good time. The waiting staff even brought a cake out for Draken - a red lady cake no less - and sang happy birthday to him in the restaurant. It was reasonably busy for a Sunday night and the waiting staff were great to talk to. I got robbed about talking to them in depth about things but I like speaking to people, it's in my nature, so it was a little harsh. Apparently Draken is also going to draw up a Lupe Bingo Card to tick off all my most popular and common phrases I bring up in conversation. To be honest I hadn't noticed this but thinking about it, I probably do say certain things from time to time, a combination of my social awkwardness and desire to fill any gaps in the conversation.
With the rain beating down as a result of this tropical storm we are enduring, we stayed in the restaurant a little longer, with a few of us grabbing a coffee while we waited. Then the two couples headed off and Wolfie and I headed to Veenos with Taneli, a new wine bar in the city which is becoming one of his favourites. I am not as big a fan of wine as I am of beer and the prices here are a tad higher than what I'm willing to pay but the glass I had was of excellent quality, very fruity and not acidic, thus not causing the painful stomach cramps I sometimes get with wine. I don't know why I find wine in bars poorer value than beer, I guess it's because I'm just getting part of a bottle rather than a full one, but there does seem to be quite a mark-up. However as an occasional treat it's fine and I do like Veenos - next time I'm hoping to try the range of cheeses they have here.
We ended the night in BrewDog as it's one of the few bars in Leeds that doesn't seem to shut at 10:30pm. The staff commented that we hadn't been in for a while - about three weeks as it turns out, demo staring just how regular we are in there - and it was great to see them all again. The other two tried their new pumpkin ale they have just released but I've never enjoyed pumpkin ale, finding it too sickly sweet, and this was no exception. I opted for a delicious 7% Belgian saison/IPA cross and that was most delicious, a great way to end the evening ahead of catching our last bus home. As is often the case, I had hoped to leave a little earlier but we were having such a good time that we couldn't depart - a sign of good friends and times indeed.
This weekend saw the birthdays of three close friends, Soma on Friday, Taneli on Saturday and Draken on Sunday. As a consequence, the former organised a meal at Miller & Carter steakhouse on the Headrow for the seven of us - the three aforementioned, their respective partners, Wolfie and me. We had never been to this steakhouse before and we had been meaning to try it - and well it was definitely worth it. Due to vouchers from Soma, we got half price starters, with Wolfie and I both opting for the creamy and rich duck parfait, nestling under a thick layer of yellow fat like it should be. With warm crusty bread and a tangy chutney, this was just divine, with the fat looking like a coagulated MilkyBar. Delving through the fat was much like going through a Creme brûlée, ultimately satisfying to reach the tasty goo underneath.
The steak was also exquisite, done to perfection, blue, just the way I like it. Steak places often struggle with blue, I guess for health and safety reasons and general poisoning fears, but this was remarkably done, with the tomato dipping sauce a nice accompaniment. Draken got the beef dripping and that was even tastier, definitely one to try next time. The fries were crisp and golden, as to was the crispy onion mash, while the lettuce bowl with your choice of sauce (I went with garlic and Parmesan) was a nice addition and something I had never seen before. It certainly made salad far more appealing and I liked the fact it came in a wooden pestle separate from the dish.
Adia was a little ill sadly so she was feeling tired, but this didn't stop the conversation being great and we all had a good time. The waiting staff even brought a cake out for Draken - a red lady cake no less - and sang happy birthday to him in the restaurant. It was reasonably busy for a Sunday night and the waiting staff were great to talk to. I got robbed about talking to them in depth about things but I like speaking to people, it's in my nature, so it was a little harsh. Apparently Draken is also going to draw up a Lupe Bingo Card to tick off all my most popular and common phrases I bring up in conversation. To be honest I hadn't noticed this but thinking about it, I probably do say certain things from time to time, a combination of my social awkwardness and desire to fill any gaps in the conversation.
With the rain beating down as a result of this tropical storm we are enduring, we stayed in the restaurant a little longer, with a few of us grabbing a coffee while we waited. Then the two couples headed off and Wolfie and I headed to Veenos with Taneli, a new wine bar in the city which is becoming one of his favourites. I am not as big a fan of wine as I am of beer and the prices here are a tad higher than what I'm willing to pay but the glass I had was of excellent quality, very fruity and not acidic, thus not causing the painful stomach cramps I sometimes get with wine. I don't know why I find wine in bars poorer value than beer, I guess it's because I'm just getting part of a bottle rather than a full one, but there does seem to be quite a mark-up. However as an occasional treat it's fine and I do like Veenos - next time I'm hoping to try the range of cheeses they have here.
We ended the night in BrewDog as it's one of the few bars in Leeds that doesn't seem to shut at 10:30pm. The staff commented that we hadn't been in for a while - about three weeks as it turns out, demo staring just how regular we are in there - and it was great to see them all again. The other two tried their new pumpkin ale they have just released but I've never enjoyed pumpkin ale, finding it too sickly sweet, and this was no exception. I opted for a delicious 7% Belgian saison/IPA cross and that was most delicious, a great way to end the evening ahead of catching our last bus home. As is often the case, I had hoped to leave a little earlier but we were having such a good time that we couldn't depart - a sign of good friends and times indeed.
